Pros: One of the best settings for disc golf in Pennsylvania. You get to ride the lift to the top of the mountain and play 9 holes back down to the bottom. Then ride the lift back up and play the back 9 back down to the bottom.

It really is a great course with many fun holes. You will get to throw your discs farther than you ever have before. A lot if fun holes. Hole 2 is a great hole over a pond to a protected basket about 600 feet away. A tough hole unless you are Tyler Horne and can throw the disc all the way to the basket from the long tee.

The views
The holes
The experience

Cons: The grass used to be pretty high here, but the resort is now cutting the grass and keeping it mowed nicely.

Signs have just been installed so it is easier to find your way around, but you will still need a map to find the next tee from the previous holes. I am sure this will be fixed in time. the course is still in the development stage.

The main lift is only open on the weekend, so if you come on a weekday you will either have to walk to hole 1 from the end of the smaller lift or play the alternate holes 1 and 10 that have been installed.

Other Thoughts: This is a great course for players who have a littlebit of skill. There are 3 sets of tees to make it enjoyable for everyone. But it really becomes a great course if you have some skills.

Goosebumps is a blast. 900 feet downhill that can be reached with a putter.

- I really liked the spread on the red, white, and blue tees. All seemed reasonable for the respective skill levels, but still provided some challenges to make par

- Love the true par 4's and 5's!

- A great place to see your discs' full potential. Naturally, hole #15 (goosebumps) is an epic hole, but my favorite was #3, which is another steep elevation drop into a well-guarded grove of trees. Thus, taming your disc on its steep descent to the basket it only half the battle!

- The corkscrew hole (#6) is definitely one of the most unique holes I've encountered, with a switchback that would give most mountain bikers nightmares. Finding a shot appropriate for this hole is difficult, and makes it all the more exciting

- Best disc golf views in Western PA! You can see for miles on a good day! I can imagine this place being incredible in the autumn months.

- Water hazards! Hole #11 is very fun, as you have to deal with two bodies of water on either side of you. The key is a nice straight shot with a subtle right fade. Will the water mess with your head?

Cons: - I'm not sure if this is always the case, but the grass was very high (> 2 feet in some places) on the fairways -- kind of makes it hard find discs and throw rollers! Speaking of losing discs, I don't think I've ever spent so much time looking for discs. Between my two friends and I, we probably spent the excess of an hour looking for over 25 discs throughout the day. I think this partially due to the dense overgrowth off the fairway and the windy course's tendency to punish bad shots and make overstable discs seemingly understable. Oh, not to mention that you are throwing down some of the steepest holes in the mid-atlantic region! I suppose you're bound to lose track of some discs.

- Hole #14. Feel free to disagree, but I don't like this hole at all. You have to throw hundreds of feet down a blind hillside while trying to avoid the ski lifts. Then, the basket is narrowly placed in between very dense rough and a road that is out of bounds. This road, which is lined with condos, runs parallel to most of the fairway and just seems a little unfair and punitive. It just isn't a fun throw and pales in comparison to many of the other spectacular ones.

- I hate to list he $6 lift fee as a con, seeing as how it's incredibly beneficial to play the front and back nines.

- Missing basket on 12 (we decided to play safari and use a tree as a target)

- I found it a little tough to find the first time, but once I started playing, navigation was pretty intuitive.

- Holes are predominantly downhill and, with the exception of a trace number of holes, no technical challenges; I suppose this is standard for a ski hill course, and throwing uphill at this place would be suicide. Some variation in elevation, however, would make Seven Springs even better. Also, the shot selection seems to favor the south-paws, which I suppose is a pro if you're left-handed.

Other Thoughts: If you're having trouble looking for the course as a first-timer, go to the main area with the lodging and the lifts and look for the "Adventure Center" -- that's where you can get your lift pass, map, and rental discs if necessary. It's also where you can take the lift to the first hole.

Seven Springs is a great place to go in the winter for skiing/snowboarding, but I have to say that I enjoy the summer even better! This was my first time visiting in the warm months, and disc golf was only one of the reasons I enjoyed being here.

Despite what seems like a low rating for such a rave review, this course is top-notch. What differentiates it from say Moraine/Knob Hill/Deer Lakes is the shot selection, change in relief/terrain, and utter ego-breaking challenge provided. With that being said, this is certainly not your typical ski-hill course and it's characteristic of the superior caliber of the greater Pittsburgh-area courses. Make the visit and have a blast!

Pros: I should establish from the start - I'm a disc golf hacker. I know some expert skills and strategies, but can't really apply them. My son, daughter and I played this course from the whites.

The skilift is a great way to get the round started. Very well-designed routing to make use of the available space. The downhill walk wasn't nearly as bad as we had imagined it would be. Only two straight-down knee-aching descents. The 3rd and the 15th. The two water holes - 2nd and 11th - are good challenges. You can choose your tee area to limit the carry - it's a risk without making the holes impossible for novices. The tee boxes are very well-marked, always easy to find once you figure out the general direction. Excellent baskets.

Favorite holes:
The 2nd - Fair amount of space on the left to avoid the right-side pond. Basket is well-placed within trees, not too dense to ruin all hopes of a clear putt.
The 4th - Long sidehill fairway with a line of trees to shoot through at the halfway point.
The 7th - Very short and downhill with lanes of trees to navigate for the putt.
The 11th - Second water hole. Short enough to drive across for any skill level, with large evergreens to catch a shot that goes left.
The 15th - Massive open fairway, but the woods still come into play for drifting discs. Plenty of depth on the ledge to create a fair landing area at the basket.
The 16th - Easy relatively gradual downhill with a few ski lift buildings to help frame the fairway.

Cons: All natural tee areas, which is understandable. Several of them are too uneven to afford any kind of runup. It's not especially practical to get in a second round of 18. You'd have to pay for another set of lift tickets ($5 in our case). Long flying discs and thick treeline brush adds up to a lot of time hunting for discs, at least it did in our case. My son, daughter and I spent 4 hours for 18. Even with perfect aim and half that time another immediate round might be tough to justify.

There's not too much call for specialized shot-making. The key is to be straight, and limit the drift, on just about every hole. The 14th is the most extreme example of this situation. A long straight gradual downhill, with condos on the right, and thick woods on the left. Suffered our one lost disc on that hole. The 6th hole is maybe the one exception. But it's so serpentine that you can't really throw the perfect hyzer or s-curve without a fair amount of luck as well. The 17th, the one uphill, seems like a bit of a throwaway, especially from the whites.

Other Thoughts: You can see a long way from the top of the ski slopes. But with all the new condo construction at the top, and hotel lodges dominating the base, including some massive Holiday-Inn style boxes, it's not really a spectacular view.

The course plays fairly open and easy in spite of the length - several gradual downhills and open approaches make for birdie opportunities. You could conceivably lose a lot of distance with a wayward sidehill shot, but that wasn't a problem for us. The grass is thick and doesn't permit a lot of downhill rolling.

No signs to get you from one tee to the next. Follow the scorecard map and you'll be fine. Discs are available for rent at the adventure center. We were the only golfers on the course the day we played.

Pros: For starters let me admit I don't like Ski Hill courses. I find the financial, seasonal, temporary, and gimmickiness of these courses to not be a true disc golf experience. Now I have to also admit that this course really blew me away. There is so much more here than just the pay for the lift ticket and throw off the mountain and chase your disc here. There are some really enjoyable disc golf holes to be enjoyed. The mountain top scenery is stellar but it's the golf that makes this course so much fun. You ride the lift twice,to begin and after hole 9. The cynic might say this is a way to ensure you spend some dough but if you are not concerned with the price,,,which is miniscule compared to Aspen and some of the resorts out west and focus on enjoying yourself your in for a treat. Hole 1 is a chance to throw something completely overstable dead straight. It is a straight drive but there is a prevailing headwind so feel free to pack you Max or your Tee Rex and watch it fly straighter than you ever imagined. Then a short walk and your greeted by the first of 2 water holes. yes there are 2 huge ponds atop the mountain and it is no chip shot over them either. Hole 2 is a 540 footer with over 2/3 of it water carry. Wow! Hole 11 is 270 and all water carry with minimal bailout. Throw it deep and your in the woods, throw it short and your swimming with the geeses. Hole 3 is a 483 dive downward but be careful if you overshot the landing zone your easily another 300 feet further down the mountain and shooting back up. Hole 4 plays along the ski hill and if you fade too much your again 300 feet down the mountain. Hole 5 is a tight approach after an open drive with the same dangerous drop off to the left to punish errant throws. The corkscrew hole 6 is a very unique hole. 7 is a little downhill drive to a protected basket. 8 and 9 are drives across the base of the mountain. Then you rest your legs and take the lift again. 15 is a huge drive from the top to near the base of the mountain.....really a fun hole. 17 is a shortie and then 18 is a long drive along the base of the mountain to finish the day. All of the holes seem to be designed as disc golf holes first and much thought seems to be put into risk/reward as well as the fun factor here. Outside of the water and perhaps a flippy drive on 15 there is not much chance to lose discs here. There are 3 tees for each hole for varying levels of play. You really get to play and have some fun with elevation and wind here.

Cons: Pay to play, Seasonal Aspect of course, (so no permanent tees), It does take awhile to play the course......it's not easy walking down those hills and if you overshoot you will be hillclimbing as well. You must understand elevation and wind here! Condos are nearby and with the wind could be hazzardous on holes 10 and 14 be careful.

Other Thoughts: The resort is fairly cheap off season and disc golf seems to be one of the activities they are promoting to bring summer visitors here. I think it's definetely worth a stop and perhaps a night in the resort. We payed less to stay in a wonderful resort room than we did to stay on a Highway Motel outside Pittsburgh on our Western PA expedition.